Princess of the Sea

By: CyanideMuffins7

Chapter 21: Trial

A/N: Greetings readers. Typically, I post a chapter every Sunday. But being that it is nearing my last day of summer until I return to the repugnant and excruciating pain I call school, I decided to treat my readers to a chapter to hold them off until the end of the week. I hope this chapter will get you wanting more.

Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Hunger Games, the trilogy or any of the characters Suzanne Collins has created. I only take credit for the characters I have created and the plot I have made.

I tag along beside Bachus as we jog a bit through the trees. I can't really remember exactly where the Cornucopia is, so I'm depending on Bachus to get us there. I have a feeling that he knows where he's going, but I have to brace myself for anything.

Bachus abruptly stops and ducks behind a tree. He motions me to do the same, so I quickly hide behind the tree before I've been seen. I slow down my breath and peer over my shoulder to see Jadalis leading about three other Tributes behind her. I recognize the District 8 girl right away. No doubt the District 8 boy is there too, and I notice the District 10 girl is there as well.

I pull my head back so I'm watching them anymore. I glance over to Bachus who was keeping his eye on them. He was waiting until they were out of sight, but I wait until I couldn't hear their footsteps anymore.

Once the coast was clear, Bachus and I emerge from behind the trees. Curiously, I look over to Bachus, "What's Omega doing here?" I ask in a hushed tone.

Bachus doesn't look at me, just where Omega had left from. I can see in his eyes he was asking himself the same question. But he just shrugs and drops the question.

I join Bachus as we get back on track. We lost a bit of time, but we should make up for it. It must have been an hour until I was able to see the makeshift wooden barricades and the golden Cornucopia in the parting of the trees. We must be at the Career Camp.

Bachus and I stay crouched down, moving slowly with our legs like crabs closer to the barricade. We remain silent like the shadows that creep behind unsuspecting victims.

I stop near a tree to peer into the camp. I signal Bachus to stay hidden, and he graciously follows my order. My eyes catch the tributes scattered around either lying on the grass or against the Cornucopia. But I don't see anyone awake. There must be someone on watch, there just has to be.

Bachus is prepared to move again, but I hold my hand up for him to stop where he was. I scan the area maybe a dozen more times in search for someone on guard. I don't want to just head straight in without knowing that no one will alert them.

Finally, the last thing I decide to check is the barricade in front of us. To my surprise, I see it shift a little with a groan. It was the kind of groan that you're irritated with something, possibly because he or she has to be on this shift.

I look over to Bachus and nod over to the barricade while using my thumb to trace a line over my neck. Bachus nods and stealthily moves behind the barricade. He holds his axe on both metal ends and in one swift move he stands over the barricade while pressing the axe on the other side. I hear a little struggling behind the barricade. The Tribute was attempting to scream but the axe was cutting off his or her's vocal chords.

Killing he or she wouldn't be such a good idea now that I think about it. If he or she died, the cannon would be shot. The sound would alarm the Careers to awaken and our plan will fail. I dart from my hiding spot and to Bachus. I take my throwing axe and use the blunt end to the female tribute's head. She collapses on her side with a heavy exhale.

I look over to Bachus, "The cannon would have been shot if she was killed here." I whisper as I place my hand his shoulder. Bachus shrugged, "Whatever." He responded in a hushed tone as he let the axe swing to his side once again.

I lead Bachus cautiously and slowly towards the first Tribute. It was the male Tribute from District 5 lying on the ground with his club by his head. It was easy to take his weapon since he wasn't holding onto it. Just to be sure I carefully scan his body for any knife on him or anything. I managed to slip a small thin knife from his pocket without him awakening.

I stand up and go to the next body, which is incidentally Hei. He slept on his side while his arms served as a pillow for his head. I look at his face closely to notice the small details like the natural bags under his eyes, a small cut on his jaw and lip along with a fresh cut starting from his forehead that crossed over his eyebrow and to his cheekbone. I also notice his furrowed eyebrows. He must be having a nightmare or maybe that's what he always looks like when he's sleeping.

I lightly shake off staring at his face and began to search for weapons on him. Two cleavers are held within his hands. This was going to be difficult. This was the moment of truth. If I could slip these weapons from his hands without him opening his eyes, I could continue on with the plan. But if I know Hei, he would anticipate my move and open his eyes the moment I touched his weapons.

I carefully pinch one of the blades and slowly pull it out. His eyes don't open. I then pinch the other blade and let it slip from his grasp. For a split second, I notice his hand twitch a bit but his eyes remain closed. I silently put the cleavers in my pack and continue on to the next Tribute, which is Magnus. It looked like Magnus had nothing really on him. He lays on his back with his arms by his sides, sleeping peacefully. I make sure and scan his body again when I noticed a few spears, painted to camouflage with the grass he was laying on. Clever.

I quietly pick up the spears, one by one and hold them within my arm since I obviously have no room in my pack for spears. I look over to Bachus who was plucking the knife belt off of Lena with ease yet with the utmost care. Bachus looks up towards the top of the trees as he silently tosses the belt over his shoulder. I look up into the sky to see the dark and cloudy smoke emerging in the distance.

I motion Bachus towards the trees, where we will make our escape. He joins me as we silently walk through the trees where we are greeted with the fog. It's difficult to see, so I decide it was time I should use one of those flares. I dig through my pack, recklessly letting my fingers get cut by the blades of the cleavers and the small knife, to pull out one of the flares.

I make sure the flare is at a certain distance before I pull off the cap, igniting a flurry of red sparks. It's quite useful, especially in the fog. I hold it up in front of me like a torch so we could see.

Now this is the part of the plan that had flaws. I don't know where I'm going, and I certainly don't know how to get back to the camp. I just hope that Bachus knew where it is, "This way." Bachus said as he gently grabs onto my wrist. I let him lead me, thankfully he knows the way.

As we walk, I scan the area around us. It's beginning to come familiar to me as we past a few things. One thing catches my eye is the tall willow tree with the roots over a fox hole. I stop and pull Bachus with me.

"Toss the weapons in here." I say as I hand Bachus the flare. I drop the spears on the ground and open my pack. I toss the cleavers in the hole as well as the small knife and the club. I then begin to toss the spears in, except one. I'm quite proficient in a trident, and I guess another weapon in the family is a spear. I think I can make some use of this.

But I don't want to carry it around. So I take the spear and break it in half. The blunt end, I toss it in the hole while I place the spear end in my pack. Bachus hands me the flare and he tosses all the weapons he stole into the fox hole. He doesn't bother to keep any of weapons for himself, he just dropped them and moved on.

"Follow me." Bachus said as he gently grabs my hand to guide me. I'm not reluctant to let him take my hand, I just let him.

While he's leading the way, I'm lighting the way back to camp. It must have been an hour until we make it to the stream where I had fished from and when the fog began to thin. I know we are close, I just hope that the Careers don't catch us. Bachus is hesitant as we stop at the bed of the stream. I can feel his grip on my hand tighten as he stares down at the water.

We need to get across, but Bachus is too afraid to. I toss the flare into the stream and I pull Bachus closer to me as I enter the stream.

I make sure I have proper footing before Bachus could enter, "Hold onto me." I say in the kindest way possible.

Bachus did as he is told and hold onto me, tightly. I gently guide him through the stream. I could tell he's scared because he's holding onto me for dear life as I slowly make my way to the other side. I don't know what my life would have been like if I didn't know how to swim. I would probably be more of an outcast.

I make it to the other end of the stream and let Bachus get out first before I did. Right as Bachus got back on land he was back to the dauntless brute he is, except he was wet.

Bachus helped me out and guides me back to the camp. I just can't believe that we were able to make it out of the Career camp undetected. We aren't done yet either. We still have Omega to tackle, but that's after the Career's numbers drop.

"After this, do you want me to teach you how I swim?" I ask.

Bachus chuckles which gives me a chill down my spine since his chuckle was rare to hear, "Not much of a point if I'm going to die anyways."

I just shrug, "I don't know, it's just…Do you want to die knowing you could do something you couldn't?"

When I was little, Mom said that to me. I remember I didn't want to go on the other side of the gates. I wanted to, but I just couldn't. To me, it felt like I was breaking the rules. But it wasn't until I saw my mother cross and she told me the same thing I told Bachus, and I did it. I was able to cross the fence without any regret or fear. I was glad that I could do it. I just want Bachus to be able to do something he couldn't do.

Bachus keeps his eyes on the ground without a smile for a while. I can see that he's thinking, intently. I feel his hand squeeze onto mine before he looked ahead, "Guess you're right." He mumbled but I feel like he wanted to say something more.

Suddenly Bachus becomes serious. He let go of my hand and undid his bandana and places it on my hand, "Here, keep it." He said as he holds my hand again. I don't know what to say or do, but I just hold onto it without saying a word.

Before silence could settle in, Bachus spoke again, "I've always felt like I was my own protection, my own wall." He began with a slight pause before continuing, "It's just felt like two lifetimes ago that I was able to feel safe in someone's hands."

Bachus was getting all mushy on me. I guess it's because he feels like his death was immanent and that he wanted to say the things he feels, but can't express. It's not like I'm uncomfortable or anything, it's just it's hard to believe this is coming from the brute we all know.

"I won't let go, even if my life depended on it." Bachus muttered to himself, but I was able to hear him.

I tighten my grip on his hand. This was probably the most I contact with a boy I ever had. At least I could say to myself before I die, I held a boy's hand. It's not like I'm asking a lot though. In fact I'm content with saying to myself that I only held a boy's hand; not just any boy's hand, one of my best friends' hand.

Bachus stops me before entering and he used our bird call. No response. I decide to try it, hoping that I could get a response. Nothing. There's a pang of worry in me that tells me that something bad could have happened to Coda, Wren and Canon. Maybe they were caught by the Diomede or some Magakus, or even Omega. It was difficult to even think such a thing.

Bachus and I cautiously approach the clearing where our camp is still intact. The fact that they haven't returned yet worried me, deeply. I can't tell in Bachus, he just seems so confused. We decide to sit down and wait for them, with our weapons at the ready just in case of an ambush.

We wait, but they haven't returned.

When the sky begins to lighten and the fog begins to roll in, we hear that call of a wren behind us. I turn around to see Wren on Canon's back with her arms dangling over his shoulders as he holds onto her thighs to support her on his back. Coda is right by Canon's side, but I cared to notice her Tasers weren't on her. I shouldn't worry about that now.

"Sorry, we got side tracked." Wren said with a hoarse voice like she's been coughing a lot.

As they come closer, their faces reveal coats of dirt and ash smudged on their cheeks and across the face. They must have gotten into trouble, otherwise they wouldn't be as messy.

Canon lifts Wren up a bit, "We were lighting the last fire when we were caught by another Tribute. Had the craziest look in her eye." Canon says with a light grin. I guess the excitement of challenge made him feel the adrenaline.

"Yeah, and I used my Tasers to light the last fire." Coda chuckled lightly as she caught up to Canon.

"Did you outrun her?" I ask.

They nod in unison. I just hope she isn't smart enough to track them down, otherwise our camp would be compromised.

We spend the remainder of the morning sleeping. Wren protested that I should get some sleep too, but I said they need it more than I do. It was a few hours when a cannon shot fired off. Someone finally died after so many days of no deaths.

I keep watch the entire morning and all the way until afternoon. I decide that they needed a break so I didn't wake them until a little bit after midday.

"You should get some rest, Pandora." Wren suggested as she sits down next to me. I just shake my head. I don't really need rest right now. Everyone else is tired just like me. Plus, I'll go hunting soon with Coda. I might as well just stay up.

Wren places her hand on my shoulder, "Don't do this to yourself. You need to focus and the only way you can do that is by resting." Wren said sternly to me like a mother would when her child was staying up too late. I sigh heavily and lay down where I sat.

Wren looks down and pokes me in the stomach, "I'll have Coda and Canon go out hunting. Don't worry about it." She said as she stood up and patted her pants.

I trust Wren enough that they can handle this without me, so I let my eyelids close and fall immediately into sleep.

I find myself in another nightmare where I'm standing in the cold grains of sand on the beach. The sky was coated in gray clouds over the motionless ocean. I didn't feel the fresh sea breeze, or the warm sound or hear the crashes of the waves. There was nothing. I look around for anyone near me, but no one was around. As I look back forward, there was a figure standing in the ocean. I can't see him from here, so I step closer. As I become closer, I began to actually hear something.

I look down at my feet to see the foam of the sea turn into stretched arms. As the waves came in, the arms would stretch and grab onto the sand, but would fade after a few seconds once the water would retract.

I slowly walked closer once the water retracted back into the sea to get a closer look on the figure. About a minute later, I felt the water crash against my ankles. I look down to see the hands grabbing onto my ankles and calves. I try to move, but they have a good grip on me. Next thing I know I'm under the water, being pulled down by hands. I struggle to break free but their grips are strong and firm on me.

The small ripple of light at the surface of the water began to become smaller and smaller. I felt everything around me becoming faint, like I would wake up.

But before the shock could wake me up, a hand had grabbed onto my wrist. It wasn't like the other hands, but it was actually a real hand. Its strength overcame the other hand's strength and began to pull me towards the surface. Soon I made it back to the surface, but my eyes widened to see Hei staring back at me.

My eyes shoot open and I sat up tiredly. The sky was dark already and everyone was doing what they usually do. Bachus was sitting with Coda, talking about who knows what. Wren is leaning against Canon while he has his arm around her.

I stand up while stretching my arms out, feeling the tension in my arms and legs. I think I'll go out for a bit, just to get some alone time for myself.

I begin to walk out of the camp when I hear Coda's voice, "Where are you going Pandora? Just hang around." Coda insisted as I stay by the trees. I look over to Coda with a light smile, "Just going out for some time to myself." I say, hopefully I can go.

"Just don't be out for too long. The Careers might be wondering around. Be wary." Wren warned. I nod and head out of the camp with my pack ready and my throwing axes sheathed onto my belt. I'm not prepared to leave the camp without them anyways.

I take a slow pace through the tight knit trees. It's rather peaceful just having to walk in the night time by myself. It's cool, and the air is crisp and fresh. It's been a while since I felt like I was at peace. I wish the feeling would never go away.

Right as I step on a twig, the sound of a low grunt came from behind me. I freeze in place and I remain silent. I stay cautious and look from the corner of my eye and slowly turn my head to see what is behind me.

A chill runs down my spine and my body immediately heats up to its highest temperature as the Diomede looks at me straight into my eyes with those glossy gray eyes. I slowly move my hand up to my belt to the handle of my throwing axe. It must be cleverer than I thought since it just began to sprint towards me. I quickly take out my throwing axe but as I was about to throw it, the Diomede pushes me down and tramples me. My torso feels like it collapsed. Whenever I move the pain is blinding. But I need to move now before the Diomede finishes me off.

I quickly stand up while ignoring the pain. The Diomede is preparing for another charge towards me, but this time I'm prepared. I throw the axe square in the head like I did before, but it keeps charging towards me. I need to act fast, because this creature is fast. I quickly unsheathe my other throwing axe and ready myself. As it sprints straight at me, I deftly dash to the side and pounce right onto it. I adjust myself on its back while grabbing onto its wiry hair. I was impulsive and hack at its skull repeatedly.

The Diomede lets out a shaky whine and keeps sprinting as I keep hacking. But before I know it, the Diomede bumps right into one of the tree trunks causing me to lose my grip and fall. I grunt as my body hit the ground. It feels like I fell from the top of the Justice Building and right onto the stone pavement. I try to get up, but the pain is weighing me down.

The Diomede charges at me and opens its mouth out to me with its sharp teeth and catches my wrist. I struggle, "You are NOT taking my hand!" I grunt as I use my axe and hack at its jaw until it finally opens violently along with a powerful whine mixed with saliva and blood.

I struggle to move to the side and back on my feet while it's still in its hysteric state. I throw my axe again, this time striking right in its grotesque eyes. It lets out another powerful whine and stamps around in anger.

No matter how many times I'll hack at this thing, it's not going down. Like the last time I stabbed one of my axes on its head and it didn't go down. The scientists in the Capitol made these creatures so difficult to kill.

What other weapons do I have on me? I have the utility knife, but that's just as useless as the axes. I have rope, but trapping it will take time that I don't have. All that's left that's useful is that flare, but I was saving it just in case I'm caught in the dark. But it's the only thing that could actually spare me time to escape.

I quickly dig through my pack and pull out the flare as the Diomede began to turn towards me. Each movement I make with my wrist causes a pulse of pain through my arm and to my shoulder. So it's a struggle to pop off the top of the flare. My fingers fumble for the cap until I managed to pry it off and toss it aside. The flare set off and sparks here and there. Without a thought I throw the flare at the Diomede, causing the horse to spontaneously catch in an inferno. The Diomede let out a loud and shaky whine, a whine of pain as the fire burns into its skin.

It stamps around until one of its legs collapses and it falls onto the ground, letting the area around it slowly catches a fire. The Diomede struggles to move its legs but after a short period of time it's on fire, it stops moving.

I'm breathless, and stunned. I finally killed the Diomede. Revenge actually feels good, and it's one less monster in this arena. I can't put the fire out, so I just run the hell out of there before I could get burned alive. But after a few minutes of running, I feel a drop of water splash onto my cheeks. After that drop, came a flurry of water falling from the sky. I slow down and began to limp on my journey back to camp. At least the Gamemakers are thinking about the fire before I could.

My hand is bleeding pretty badly and I don't want to get it infected. So I pull out Bachus's bandana and wrap it around my injured hand so it can soak up some of the blood.

I can't wait to tell them the good news. I can imagine Bachus would be a little irked since he hats the Diomede just as much as I do. But I think he will be glad that its dead and that it can't hurt us anymore.

The excitement to tell my friends of my conquer gives me the energy to jog with a few hops here and there. Once I approach the clearing, I don't even bother whistling our call as I enter the camp.

"Hey guys, I killed the Diomede!" I say with glee.

But no one responds. In fact, the camp is empty.

They must be asleep and hiding so that no one could find them, "Hey? Coda?" I say loud enough for them to hear me. But there's no answer, "Canon?" I say in the same tone, "Bachus?" I begin to soften, "Wren?" I say with a little worry quivering in my voice.

I scan the camp again to notice a pair of legs popping out of a small bush. They're too big to be Coda's legs and they're too feminine to be Canon or Bachus's so it must be Wren.

I dash over towards the bush, "You must be heavy sleepers." I mumble as I approach the legs. I part the bush aside, but the legs were the only thing there along with a pool of blood.

My eyes widened and I immediately back away. My stomach feels like it's about to come out of my throat. Where is everyone? What happened to Wren? She could be dying out there because of loss of blood. The image of Wren without her legs causes me to vomit on the ground in front of me. The pain to just vomit hurts my torso. But that isn't my main worry.

As my eyes were on the ground—avoiding the sight of the vomit—I notice smears of blood on the earth and grass. If there is one, there is another one, until a large smear of blood became a trail.

I unsheathe my last axe and begin to follow the trail of blood out of the camp. This path becomes familiar to me. It's the path leading to the stream. Where was Wren going?

A grunt echoes all around me. But it isn't one from a Mugaku, but a human being. I look around with haste to see where it was coming from. I stop to listen again, to hear it was coming from a few paces up. I attempt to run, but I cringe as breathing became a struggle for me.

I stop for a second to catch my breath when I hear my name. I turn my head to the left to see Bachus leaning against the trunk of the tree, with his hand over his side.

He's severely injured. It's not just his side that has blood coming out of. There's blood streaming down his forehead and his knee looks pretty bad too.

"Bachus!" I say breathlessly as I dash to Bachus's side. Bachus looks worried, "Pandora, what happened?" He questioned while letting out a heavy cough.

I use my strength to get him on his feet and letting him lean on me, "Never mind me. Where's everyone else!?" I urged as I limp along with Bachus at my side.

"That Tribute they were talking about…She invaded the camp. And she got to Wren first." Bachus said as he purposely walks on his own, "She tried to make off with Wren, but Canon dashed right after her, then Coda and I. Just when I caught up with her, she handled me pretty good and tossed me aside." Bachus explained as he cringes as he limps beside me.

My ears are able to pick a close sound of a blackbird. It keeps repeating itself as well. I look over to Bachus, and he looks at me.

"Go, I'll be fine." Bachus ordered as he nods up the way.

I nod and dart down the path. I need to save Coda, Canon and Wren from the Tribute. They are in danger, and need my help. I will not see any of my friends die today.

The sound of the running stream begin to become closer, as well as the call of the blackbird and some yelling.

"No! Don't hurt him!"

"I'll kill you!"

I run faster and faster until I finally approach the stream, and everything looks like it's just another nightmare.

Canon is holding onto the Tribute's arms while Coda had a rock in her hand and banging it against the Tribute's legs. But I notice the Tribute has a shiny knife in her right hand, pointing it at Canon. She seems like she's using all of her strength to stab Canon, but their strength seemed to be equally matched.

Canon's grip on her right hand slipped and she stabbed Canon in his gut, repeatedly with a maniacal laugh until Canon collapsed onto the ground, coughing aggressively. His body is positioned right next to Wren's body.

Coda immediately bursts into tears and hits the girl's legs harder, "Bitch!" she shouted. The Tribute then stabs her in the gut and pushes her down.

I can't move. I feel like I'm frozen. Why can't I do anything!? If I could move, then I could have saved Canon and Coda.

The Tribute's eyes meet mine and they were right, there is crazy that reflected in those green eyes of hers. I recognize her face to be the District 2 girl, "I've been looking for you." She drawled as she tilts her head. She begins to giggle, "You killed Azul. And I came all this way from the Careers to kill you myself. It's going to feel so good when I-" Before she could finish her speech, I throw my axe in between her eyes and she falls down like a chopped tree.

I cross over the stream to see the only moving bodies were of Canon and Wren. As I dash out of the stream, I rush to them. I sat on my knees as I look at them. Wren looks so pale she must have lost a lot of blood. Her beanie was off and her fire like hair was let down, scattered on the ground or on her body. Canon's face is smeared with dirt and blood as he looks into Wren's eyes.

Wren stretches her hand out to Canon's hand, and holds onto it. Canon keeps his eyes on Wren, and none of the two look at me, "I'm happy that I was chosen for the Games. I would never been able to see you, or even get to feel you." Canon said softly as his other hand reached out to touch Wren's cheek.

Wren warm smile creeps across her lips, "I didn't want it to end this way."

Canon smiles as well, "Tell you the truth, I always imagined to die with you once we were married and our children had grown up to have more children." His voice is hoarse and I can barely understand it.

I feel something within me begin to create a pit within my stomach. My eyes fall to the ground and I remaine silent.

"My disease would eventually become so severe that once all my nerves fade, I'll become motionless. I wouldn't be able to talk, or eat or even move my eyes. I would just be a burden to you."

Canon brought her hand closer to him, "No!" He argued, "I don't care if you become a husk. I would spend the rest of my life taking care of you if I had to, because I love you." Canon's voice started to stammer, "Damn it, I love you Wren."

Canon is holding back sobs now. The pit inside of me feels like it's getting bigger.

Then I begin to hear Wren sniff a bit, "You know, ever since I found out that I had this disease, I thought my life was over. Like Death was just my burden. But when I started to write to you, I knew that this was the man I would be marrying someday." Wren sniffed as she is holding back the sobs until after one sniff she just let the cries out, "And now all I can do is lay beside you to watch you die."

I couldn't take this anymore. I slam my fists to the ground and I rip a piece of long thread that was hanging from my jacket. I then took their hands and wrap the same thread on their ring fingers. The two looked up at me in confusion.

"I'll marry you two right here, right now." I exclaim staring sternly at the two.

I don't know any marriage traditions they have in District 7 or in District 12. Obviously, they're different than District 4 traditions. But I only been to one wedding and I could probably muster a few lines from the sermon to marry them.

"We are here today to watch the joining of Wren and Canon." I begin, "Do you, Wren take Canon to be your husband? In sickness and in health, and be with him no matter where he goes?" I say as I look over to Wren.

Wren looks over to Canon and smiles, "I do." She says softly.

I look over to Canon, "Do you, Canon take Wren to be your wife? In sickness and in health, and be with her no matter where she goes?" I say in a rush.

Canon sniffs and nods, "I do."

"You are now husband and wife." I rush while my hands tighten into fists. The rain had mixed in with their tears, but if it wasn't raining, their tears could probably flood this entire arena.

Canon gently brings himself closer to Wren and his face meets Wren's face and they kissed. It's probably the first time I saw them kiss. But it's actually a sight to see. I never saw anyone so much in love like Wren and Canon. I know that kiss means the world to them, because It's the last kiss they will have.

"I'll see you on the other side Canon…" Wren said until her voice began to fade and her grip on Canon's hand went limp.

Canon sniffs before spitting out some blood in front of him, "Pandora, take my pack. You'll need it." He grunts as he holds onto Wren tightly. He nuzzled his head into her hair, "Win…" Canon murmured as he slowly closed his eyes.

Two cannons are shot, and I know they are gone. I hold back the tears. I can't let the Gamemakers see I'm weak. I need to stay strong.

I open Canon's pack—which was still on his back—to find more flares and a few sticks of dynamite. I stuff it in my pack and stand back up.

"Pandora…" I hear Coda groan.

I look over to Coda who was struggling to get on her feet. I don't have any bandages and Canon or Wren don't either. There is nothing I can do for Coda.

I walk over to Coda and gently scoop her up. My left arm is under her legs while my right arm supported her neck. I carry her through the stream but it's probably a few feet when Bachus's body leaning against the tree—still breathing—comes into sight. I'm about two feet from Bachus when I just plop myself against a tree while keeping Coda in my arms.

I pull her closer as my vision begins to become blurry and my eyelids heavy. I can't even tell if Bachus is awake or not, or even if Coda's eyes are open.

"Don't worry Coda. I'm going to be with you ok? I'll stay up with you." I pant as I become light headed. But I brush it off.

Coda is quiet, but I can feel her slow breathing against my body. I lay my head against the trunk while I keep panting. If Finnick could just get me some Sponsors to give me bandages or medicine or anything, I could save Bachus and Coda's lives.

I need them. I don't want them to die. Just let them live…Please…

My eyelids begin to slowly close, and I could hear Coda chuckle. As my mind begins to slip into a deep sleep, I hear Coda say something to me, "Thank you, Sister."

I fall into a deep sleep. It's so deep that I can't even bother to dream anything. I feel so tranquil as I'm sleeping, because I'm so tired. There is so much running and pain that can be blinded by rest.

As I begin to become conscious, I feel a numb yet lingering pain in my body. I can't feel my right hand and my entire body is chill from the cold. I feel so damp yet so warm. I slowly open my eyes to the dull early morning with bleak dark gray clouds and a thin fog rolling around us.

I tilt my head down to see my empty arms. Coda is gone.